A Swarthmore Admissions Blog

October 1, 2018August 23, 2018

What to Do When the Matchbox is Closed

Exercise is great for stress relief, conditioning, and generally bettering yourself. The Matchbox is typically open 7 days a week during the school year. Unfortunately, there are times when this isn’t the case. During breaks, the Matchbox has limited hours, or is closed.

Thankfully, some of us that have stayed on campus during multiple breaks have advice for these trying times. This post is inspired by when Herbie Rand ’21 and I stayed on campus during fall break and did Australian pull ups outside of Sharples. Rather than do that, here are some exercises for when the Matchbox is closed.

Compound Exercises — These engage two or more different joints (think squatting, dead lifting, benching):

Unlimited push-up variations!!!

Try close or wide grip, one arm, decline or incline– maybe even with a foam roller in your hands. For the added burn, wear a backpack.

An at-home push-up variation

Then there’s the chair.

Easy money

You can always use a chair from your dorm for improv bench dips or planks.

While isolation exercises are trickier to plan, sometimes a backpack or a Co-Op bag can double as a dumbbell. Load it up and use it for:

Bicep curls

Overhead tricep extensions

Shrugs

Calf raises

If all else fails, and it’s not busy, you can always run up and down Magill Walk.

Magill Walk leads from Parrish Hall to the train station

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Published by Ray

Hi! I'm Ray ('21). I grew up in the small town of Dunnellon, FL. Currently, I'm a prospective Educational Studies/Psychology major with a minor in Computer Science. I'm a QuestBridge Scholar, a member of SQU, and an usher at LPAC. As of this year, I'm a Writing Associate in training. Also, I love bunnies. View all posts by Ray